Tobacco stemming machine construction



April 4, 1939. R. E. RUNDELL 2,152,668

TOBACCO STEMMINC- MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 5, 1935 I5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 4, 1939. R. E. RUNDELL 2,152,653

TOBACCO STEMMINC' MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed (kit. 5,, 1955 5ShQGtS-51l96t 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 4, 1939. R. E. RUNDELL TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oqt. 5, 1935 FIG. 4

WZXEZW W S ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Application October 5, 1935, Serial No. 43,662

12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in tobacco stemming machines, more particularly to machines of the type described in my prior Patent No. 1,968,098, granted July 31, 1934. The

main object of the invention is to prevent overlapping of the gripper jaws due to side play which would prevent closure thereof and result in drop leaves, and to this end each gripper on the conveyor chain is provided with lugs which abut similar lugs on adjacent grippers. A further object is to provide novel means for simultaneously adjusting the conveyor drive sprocket and the cam which opens the gripper jaws to release the stripped stems, in such a manner that the same relationship of said cam and the grippers is always maintained. Another object of the invention is the provision of a positive drive for the stem ejector rolls. With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations hereinafter fully described and then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation of the ejector end of a stemming machine equipped with the improved grippers, the novel means for adjusting the conveyor drive sprocket and the cam and the positive drive for the stem ejector rolls;

Fig. 2 is a detail top view of the conveyor drive sprocket, showing the improved means for adjusting the same with the cam;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the positive drive for the stem ejector rollers, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken through the conveyor drive sprocket; and

Fig. 5 is a detail side View of the idler roller of the conveyor.

Generally stated in the embodiments of the various features of the invention herein illustrated, there are provided a driving sprocket, an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain, a cam for opening said grippers to release stems gripped therebetween, a support for said sprocket F0 and cam, and means for adjusting said support without rotating it to preserve the same relationship of the cam to the grippers. In the best construetions contemplated each gripper is provided with lugs abutting similar lugs on adjacent grippers and thereby preventing overlapping of adjacent grippers, and there is also provided a set of positively driven stem ejector rolls to remove any stems adhering to the grippers after they have been opened. The various constructions shownherein may be widely varied in construction for they are but certain of many possible concrete embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the details illustrated and described nor to the particular embodiments chosen as illustrative of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, wherein is shown one embodiment of the various features comprising the invention, the main shaft ll] of the stemming machine carries a bevel gear ll meshing with a bevel gear l2 mounted on the lower end of a vertical shaft l3. Shaft l3, at its lower end, its journaled in a bearing bracket l4, and its upper portion is supported in bearings provided in a gear housing I5 and its cover IS. The gearhousing l5 has a well I! and is formed integrally on the side of a hollow casting l5a supported by a pair of standards H! which are fastened at their lower ends to upright lugs of a pedestal 19. The latter is attached to the frame 20 of the machine and is provided with a bearing 2| which supports one end of the shaft Ill.

On the upper end of the vertical shaft I3 is fastened a worm 22 which meshes with a worm wheel 23 mounted on a shaft 24 journaled in the sides of the well l'l. Also mounted on shaft 24 is a pinion 25 which drives a gear 26 mounted on a sprocket shaft 2! (Fig. 4). The shaft 21, which is supported in one of the projecting arms 28 of the E-shaped support 29 (Fig. 2) carries one end of the hub of a double sprocket 210. which is mounted at its other end on a shaft 211) journaled in the other arm 28. The support 29 is provided with studs 30 on which a pair of links 3| are loosely mounted, the links 3| being pivoted on studs '32 set in the sides of the casting l5a (Figs. 1 .and 2). A gear-guard 33, which is loosely mounted on the shaft 24 in parallelism with one link 3|, is pivotally mounted on the shaft 21 and encloses the gears 25 and 26. A link 34 parallel to the other, link 3| is pivoted on a shaft 24a carried by the other standard I5 and loosely mounted on the shaft 21b.

The support 29 (Fig. 2) is provided with a central lug 35 to which is fastened the base 36 of a stationary cam 31 underneath the hub of the sprocket 210.. On a bracket 38 attached to one of the arms 28 of support 29 is supported a shaft 39 which carries a wiper brush orwheel 40 formed of felt or other suitable material.

An adjusting screw 4|, which bears against the support 29, is carried by a lug 42 of the casting i5a. The screw 4| is provided to permit adjustment of the tension of conveyor chain 45 which runs over the double sprocket 21a. Parallel motion is imparted to the support 29 by turning the screw 4|; and a similar movement .is thus imparted to the shafts 21 and 21b of the sprocket 21a and the cam 31 which are carried by the support, wherefore the said members are moved with a translatory motion during the adjustment.

The conveyor chain (Figs. 1 and 2) is made up of links 45 joined by pins 46 carrying rollers 41 which ride on rails 48 (Fig. 1) and thus support the chain while the stems are being stripped by stemming mechanism which need not be shown herein since it is fully disclosed in my prior patent identified above. The links 45 carry pins 49 (Fig. 2) on which pairs of coactinggripvpers 50 and 5| are pivoted. Each gripper carries on its inner end a cam roller 52, the inner ends of each pair of grippers being normally held apart bysprings 53 which are interposed therebetween, so that their other ends, which form the gripper jaws 54, will be held tightly closed on a stem placed between them.

The butts of leaves to be stemmed are inserted between the grippers of the chain, in the same manner as described in the'above mentioned patent and the leaves arethen carried through the cleaning and stripping units of the machine. The stripped stems S (Fig. 1) are then advanced towards the sprocket 21a. As each pair of grippers of the conveyor chain turns around the sprocket 21a (Figs. 1 and 2) the rollers 52 engage the inner face of the cam 31, which compresses the spring 53 and thus opens the gripper jaws 54, allowing the stripped stems to fall into a chute leading to a suitable receptacle (not shown). If a stripped stem S should stick to the opened jaws it will then be drawn between two oppositely revolving rolls 60 (Fig. 3) which will nip the stem, and eject it downwardly. The stem ejector rolls 60 may be formed of rubber or other suitable resilient material and have their forward ends beveled to freely admit the stems therebetween.

The rolls 60 (Figs. 1 and 3) are positively driven from a bevel gear 6| mounted on the shaft IS, the gear 6| meshing with a bevel gear 62 mounted on a shaft 63. To the end of shaft 63 is fixed a sprocket 64 which, through a chain 65, drives a sprocket'66 mounted on a shaft 61. A gear 68, fixed on shaft 61, meshes with a gear 69 fastened on shaft 10, thus revolving in the opposite directions the rolls 60 which are mounted on the ends of shafts 61 and 10. It should be noted that this positive drive for the stem ejector rolls assures removal of any stems adhering to the opened grippers and that stems must be pulled with an appreciable force for removal, especially whenever the machine is stopped with any stems gripped between the jaws.

While the cleared gripper jaws are still held open by the cam 31, they are carried over the side faces of the wiper wheel 40 which removes all adhering tobacco scraps, gum and other matter which might otherwise prevent the grippers from positively gripping the next stem or cause slippage of the same. The wiper wheel 40 mounted on the shaft 39 is driven by means of a chain H which runs over sprockets 12 and 13 (Figs. 1 and 2).

As the successive links of the conveyor chain move out of engagement with the sprocket 21a,

each pair of grippers 5!) and 5| thereon is swung toward the preceding pair of grippers. To overcome any possibility of the gripper jaws 54 overlapping one another, the grippers 50 and 5| (Fig. 1) are provided with guide lugs 14 which abut similar lugs on the adjacent grippers, the abutting surfaces being parallel to the opening and closing movement of the grippers, to assure a clearance between the jaws 54, when they are successively closed on the butts of the leaves which are to be stemmed.

This feature is of great importance since wear or faulty workmanship would otherwise permit such overlapping when the links supporting the same'leave the idler roller I06 of the conveyor chain (Fig. 5), the grippers being opened by engagement of their cam rollers with a stationary cam |U| which permits them to close and grip the butts of the leaves inserted therebetween shortly after they leave the idler roller. Since the construction of this end of the machine is similar to that shown in my prior patent mentioned above, further description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless conveyor chain trained over said sprocket, a support for said sprocket, means for adjusting said support with a translatory movement, in substantial alignment with the major axis of said chain, and gearing for driving said sprocket in every adjusted position thereof.

2. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless conveyor chain trained over said sprocket, a support for said sprocket, means for adjusting said support with a translatory movement, in substantial alignment with the major axis of said chain, said adjusting means including pivoted parallel arms, links by which said arms are pivotally connected to said support, and an adjusting screw engaging said support, and gearing for driving said sprocket in every adjusted position thereof. r

3. In a tobacco stemming machine, the com bination with a driving sprocket, of an endless conveyor chain trained over said sprocket, a support for said sprocket, means for adjusting said support with a translatory movement, gearing for driving said sprocket in any adjusted position thereof, said means including pivoted parallel arms pivotally connected to said support, and said-gearing including a shaft connecting said support to one of said arms, said sprocket being carried by said shaft, a pinion concentric with the pivot of the arm connected to said shaft, and a gear mounted on said shaft and driven from said pinion.

4. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a drivingsprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, a support for said sprocket and cam, and means for adjusting said support and cam with a translatory movement into adjusted position and to maintain said cam always in the same relative operative position with respect to said gripper sets.

5. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, a support for said sprocket and cam, and means for adjusting said support and cam with a translatory movement to adjusted position, said means including pivoted parallel arms pivotally connected to said support.

6. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, a support for said sprocket and cam, means for adjusting said support without rotating it to maintain said cam always in the same relative operative position with respect to said grippers, and gearing for driving said sprocket in any adjusted position thereof.

'7. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, a support for said sprocket and cam, means for adjusting said support without rotating it to maintain said cam at any adjusted position in the same relative operative relationship with said grippers, said means including pivoted parallel arms pivotally connected to said support, and a rotary cleaner member adapted to engage and clean the inner faces of the opened grippers, and gearing for rotating said member; said gearing including a shaft on which said member is mounted and by which it is connected with one of said arms, a sprocket carried by said shaft, a sprocket concentric with the driving sprocket, shaft connections between said concentric sprockets, and a sprocket chain connecting the sprocket concentric with the driving shaft to the sprocket on the shaft carrying said rotary cleaning member.

8. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, and sets of opposed spring-pressed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco leaves, each of said grippers being provided with projecting lugs arranged to abut lugs on the adjacent grippers and thereby prevent overlapping of adjacent grippers.

9. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, and sets of opposed spring-pressed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of tobacco leaves, each of said grippers being provided with projecting lugs arranged to abut lugs on the adjacent grippers and thereby prevent overlapping of adjacent grippers, adjacent lugs having coacting guide surfaces parallel to the direction of opening and closing movement of said grippers.

10. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of leaves and. transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, and a rotary cleaner arranged to engage and clean the inner faces of the opened grippers, a support for said sprocket, cam and cleaner, and means for simultaneously adjusting said sprocket, cam and cleaner.

11. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of leaves and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, and a rotary cleaner arranged to engage and clean the inner faces of the opened grippers, a support for said sprocket, cam and cleaner, means for simultaneously adjusting said sprocket, cam and cleaner, said means including parallel pivoted arms pivotally connected to said support.

12. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a driving sprocket, of an endless chain trained over said sprocket, sets of opposed grippers pivotally mounted on said chain and coacting to grip the stem butts of leaves and transport the same, a cam arranged to engage said sets of grippers successively and open the same to release the leaves, and a rotary cleaner arranged to engage and clean the inner faces of the opened grippers, a support for said sprocket, cam and cleaner, means for simultaneously adjusting said sprocket, cam and cleaner, and gearing for driving said sprocket and cleaner in any adjusted position thereof.

RUPERT E. RUNDELL. 

